Marcy Heppner’s Fundraiser for the Hospital That Saved Her Daughter’s Life

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“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” — John Wooden

Marcy Heppner’s Fundraiser to Support the Hospital that Saved her Daughter’s Life

Some background.

In 2009, when three-year-old Emma Grace Heppner was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia her parents gave themselves ten minutes to cry, then they went to work. After her diagnosis, Marcy and Mark had only hours to prepare for an ambulance ride to nearby St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where they’d stay for the next several weeks. Emma is also Jacob Heppner’s little sister.

Thankfully St. Jude’s is supported by donations and offers free health care so the Heppner’s didn’t have to worry about paying for her medical expenses.

Giving back.

Back in 2013 through the CrossFit for Hope fundraiser, CrossFit managed to raise enough to pay the operating cost of St. Jude’s for one whole day, the equivalent of $1.9 million back then.

This week, Marcy launched an online fundraiser for St. Jude’s, limited edition items from more than 30 CrossFit Games athletes. One hundred percent of the proceeds from items like signed Games jerseys from Rich Froning, Jason Khalipa, Noah Ohlsen, Kristi Eramo, Amanda Barnhart and a dozen others will go to St. Jude’s. Side note, that’s actually Emma modeling all these wonderful items nearly a decade after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Marcy is also running her first marathon in Marathon as a fundraiser for St. Jude’s.

“When you as a community give, you provide hope and a cure and you take ownership of a child,” Mary said. “Then you’re a part of Emma’s treatment and a part of her cure. You should take ownership of that.”

The auction closes on September 18 at 6:00 PM PT.

Police Nabbed Individual Responsible for Hidden Camera in Bathroom

Remind me.

Last week, a hidden camera was found in the bathroom of CrossFit 806 in Amarillo, TX. The owner, Kyle Cato, contacted the police once he discovered it. 

Yesterday, Bostyn Clark Andrews was arrested and charged with two counts of invasive visual recording in a bath or dressing room.

Well, good.

Andrews, a former employee of the gym, was allegedly caught on camera practicing placement of the camera. 

A felony in the state of Texas, the charge has a maximum punishment of 180 days to 2 years; $10,000 fine.

As unfortunate as it is to write this type of story, it’s important to make sure coaches and owners are on the lookout. It’s also worth noting that in three of the three cases we’ve written about, the perpetrator was caught every time. Every. Single. Time. 

Things To…

WATCH: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, Don’t Stop

Airrosti’s Team Don’t Stop, including Sheila Barden, Rachel Garibay, Travis Williams, and Jordan Cook sat down for a behind the scenes for the story of how Team Don’t Stop became the sixth-fittest team on Earth.

THEY DON’T STOP.

HEAR: Take Your Fitness on the Road

Chris Kerr, a self-proclaimed CrossFit nomad, travels substantially for work and so he works out at whatever affiliate happens to be nearby. On this episode of BoxJumper Podcast he discusses the rewards and unique challenges of taking his CrossFit experience with him on the road.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 

EAT: Nashville Style Fried Hot Chicken

This Paleo Scaleo version of a staple comfort food, made without regular flour and buttermilk, is certainly better for you than a bucket of drive-thru chicken. And when a craving strikes, having a better alternative to turn towards always wins. 

HOT AND CRISPY.

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• PRO-TIP: FRONT RACK MOBILITY — Jared Enderton gives you three tips to improve your front rack position. 1.) Front Squat with a hookgrip. 2.) Find a partner to help you stretch 3.) Front Squat the way you want to catch your cleans. 
• SEPTEMBER IS KB4KIDS MONTH — Kettlebells4kids, a non-profit organization built to educate the American public about the growing issue of child homelessness in our country, wants to bring fitness to 2.5 million homeless kids in America and you can help. Create a team, choose a date to host the
  WOD, and then start raising funds for the homeless kids in your state. The funds you and your team raise will go to active play equipment, in-shelter fitness programs, and indoor and outdoor play places.
• NEW BOX IN TOWN –– Bark River CrossFit is coming to Delafield, WI. and is expected to open in October.

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

April Etler from Arena Nevada CrossFit gets her first muscle-up • Chase Knight does 90 225 pound deadlifts to prepare for the Granite Games •  Sheila Barden had a microendoscopic discectomy and is recovering • Danielle Resha back squats 305 pounds • Congratulations to Haley Maclean Malleolo, who was welcomed into the world last night • Dane Smith just moved so he did 100 burpees over the couch so he could still get a WOD in • Lahaina CrossFit helps raise nearly $25,000 for a member whose house burnt down in August. 

The Granite Games Are Here — The 8th Granite Games kicks off today with athlete check-in, followed by a fitness conference and roundtable later in the day. Jason Khalipa will be delivering the keynote address where he’ll unveil his new book, “As Many Reps as Possible.” Competition kicks off tomorrow starting at 8:00 AM CT.

— How to watch: FloElite will be broadcasting the events live and here’s what you need to know. 

— Who to watch: Women: Carleen Mathews, Colleen Fotsch, Hayley Murillo, Amanda Goodman, Hayley Murillo, Kelley Jackson, and Lindsey Valenzuela. Men: Blair Chapman, Streat Hoerner, Travis Mayer and Jeff Evans,

— What’s up for grabs:  Pro Individual : 1.) $8,000 2.) $4,000 3.) $3,000. Masters: 1.) $1,000. Pro Teams: 1.) $21,000 2.) $9,000 3.) $6,000 4.) $3,000. Team – 35+ (per team): 1.) $3,000.

“Why Strength is so Important to a CrossFit Athlete,” by Hunter Britt,  Invictus

The stronger you are, the better. That’s a simple fact in CrossFit.

The stronger you are at whatever you are doing, the easier it will be to perform that task. Whether it is deadlifting 315lbs, performing 10 minutes for max calories on an Assault Bike or performing a muscle-up.

Strength is how much force your muscles can create. Strength shouldn’t be confused with size. Size is definitely associated with strength, but this article is focused on increasing the amount of force your muscles can create and why it’s important.

The obvious example in why strength helps in CrossFit is in weightlifting and powerlifting.

It is easy to see that an athlete has gotten stronger when they used to deadlift 400lbs and now they can lift 500lbs.

Now, when that athlete needs to deadlift 315lbs for a metcon, it feels a whole lot lighter. Where we do not always pay attention to strength helping us is on cardio machines.

There are four things that make someone a good “Rower” – technique, strength, body weight, and conditioning. Training in each is going to be helpful in improving your pace and making your times faster.

You can really observe rowing strength by setting the monitor to Watts. This will show you directly how much power you’re creating. The higher the power, the faster your time will be.

9/6 – 9/9: Kill Cliff Granite Games (St. Cloud, MN) 

9/7: Koski Training Camp (Lloret de Mar, Spain) 

9/8: Smashfest (Vandalia, Ohio)

​9/8: Midwest Fall Classic (Tulsa, OK)

​9/8: The Sugar Skull Showdown (Agawam, MA)

9/8: I Can CrossFit Competition (Georgetown, TX)

9/8: Global Aftermath 2018 (Online)

9/8: The Catalyst Games (Bastrop, TX) 

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Bear Cat (Bunnell, FL)

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Wynwood (Miami, FL)

9/8: Booties in Action (Wilsonville, OR)9/8: Hookd2Hops 2018 (Newtown, CT)

9/8: Rumble in the Jungle 2018 (LaVista, NE)

9/8: 2018 Battle of the Bluegrass (Louisville, KY) 

9/8: Decima Throwdown (Littleton, CO)

9/8: First Timers Fitness Festival 2 (Burlington, MA) 

9/8: Girls Gone RX (Bridgeville, PA) 

9/8: BoxLife Games at CrossFit James Island (Charleston, SC) 

9/8: Femme Royale (Denver, CO) 

9/8: Double Trouble Throw Down (Twinsburg, OH)

9/8: Power Output Challenge (San Antonio, TX)

9/9: Reps for Recovery (Annapolis, MD)

9/8: WV CrossFit Championship (Fairmont, WV)

9/8 – 9/9: Beach Cities Battle 2018 (Gardena, CA)

9/8 – 9/9: The Vermonster Team Challenge (Berlin, VT)

9/15: Box Bash 2018 (Broomfield, CO)

9/15: Warrior Affiliate League Three Amigos (Pomona,CA)

9/15: No Mans Land 4 (Painesville, OH)

9/15: Average Joes (Troy, MI) 

9/15: Stateline Throwdown 2018 (McHenry, IL)

9/15: Project Uplift (Fort Collins, CO)

9/15: Barbells for Bullies (Lexington, SC)

9/15: Barbell Brawl IV (Kennett Square, PA)

9/15: Double Date Got Twisted (Bowling Green, KY)

9/15: Doomsday CrossFit Team Competition (Beachwood, OH)

9/16: 2018 Battle at the Rock (Castle Rock, CO)

​9/16: 5th Annual North East Masters Classic (Plainville, MA)

9/16: The Brazen Cup 2018 (Fairfield, NJ) 

9/22: Electric City Throwdown (Great Falls, MT) 

9/22: Shatter the Stigma III (Boyertown, PA)

9/22: New Kids on the 321 Block 2018 (Topsham, ME)

9/22: Femme Royale at Eagle Wing CrossFit (Orange, CA)9/22: 2nd Annual CrossFit TUFF Charity Row-A-Thon (Nashua, NH) 

9/22: Girls Gone RX Denver (Denver, CO) 

9/22: Legends of the WOD (Grapevine, TX)

9/22: Beers and Burpees (Charlotte, NC)

9/22: Burpees 4 Autism at Lucky’s (Roswell, GA)

9/23 – 9/23: Field of Teams (Cedar Falls, IA)

9/22 – 9/23:The D-Town Throwdown (Decatur, Illinois)

9/22 – 9/23: The Cascade Classic (Seattle, WA)

9/22 – 9/23: Heartland Havoc 3 (Davenport, ID) 

9/23: Games of the Ages Masters Team Competition (Hanson, MA)

9/23: Cadre Crucible Team Competition (Hudson, OH)

9/23: Detroit Red Wings WOD (Detroit, MI) 

9/23: IronWorkz Gauntlet (Medina, OH)

9/24: CrossFit New England 3rd Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament (Hudson, MA)

9/28 – 9/29: Pensacola Beach Brawl (Pensacola Beach, FL)9/28 – 9/29: The Primal Games (Savannah, GA)

9/29: Kilo Crush Fest (Hampton, VA) 

9/29: Barcode Team Competition (Leander, TX)

9/29: Long Island Masters Team Competition (Hauppauge, NY)

9/29: Fallout Powered by Battleground Events (Long Beach, CA)

9/29: Battle for Boise (Meridian, ID)

9/29: 5th Annual WOD for a Cause (Murrietta, CA) 

9/29: K-9 Pursuit (Bristol, CT)

9/29: Swolemates (Cincinnati, OH)

​9/29: CrossFit Be Someone Charity WODathon (Houston, TX) 

9/29: Garage Girls (Pousbo, WA) 

9/29: Adoption Fundraiser WOD (Millcreek, UT)

10/5: The Hopper (Asheville, NC)

10/6: Beer City Beatdown (Asheville, NC) 

10/6: Gallant Gauntlet 2 (Bedford, TX)

10/6: WOD for Water Troy (Troy, AL)

10/6: Invictus Boston Barbells for Boobs (Boston, MA)

10/6 – 10/7: The Iron Clash (Fayetteville, NC)

10/12: 10/14: Faith RX’d (Denver, CO)